Best Uses of Hyatt Category 1-7 Certificates for Globalists Based Out of SE VA

In this post, I wanted to go over some of the best ways to use category 1-7 Hyatt certificates (also available at category A-D all inclusive hotels), particularly for those wishing to only stay 1 or 2 nights who are traveling from SE VA & who are globalists themselves or who are using a Guest of Honor Booking from a Globalist. Generally speaking, the higher the value in $ you'd get between the free night and any globalist perks or Small Luxury Hotels perks, the more reasons you have to use the category 1-7 certificate there. While there are many other factors, that's my top recommended factor to consider at least. The next major factor is how long it will take you to get there, since a category 1-7 certificate is not often paired with another one on a category 5-7 property and the points or $ cost is typically high.

Image courtesy Hyatt.com

Image courtesy Hyatt.com

Globalist Status Benefits

For anyone with Globalist status, & for those using someone else's Globalist status for a Guest of Honor certificate booking, it's best to know the benefits of status so that you can maximize your value, depending on the hotel brand.

Here is a picture with the benefits of Globalist status on the right:

Image courtesy https://world.hyatt.com/content/gp/en/tiers-and-benefits.html#charts

Club lounge perks: Most locations that have a club lounge (primarily Hyatt Grands & some Hyatt Regencies) will provide free access to it if it’s open during the stay. It's best to reach out to the hotel to confirm that if it has a club lounge, it will be open for the duration of your stay, and ask what type of food will be available (i.e. morning breakfast, evening d'oeuvres, & dessert). For instance, with the Grand Hyatt in DC, I’ve confirmed directly with the hotel that this one is open and that the standard “continental breakfast, evening hors d’oeuvres, and all-day refreshments” are available during stays, including on weekends. If the lounge is available, I recommend going there (not the restaurant) for free breakfast and other meals/snacks, with the lightest options typically at lunch, best options at breakfast, & 2nd best at dinner, typically with limited hours. While the evening options are typically called evening hors d'oeuvres, whether or not they can replace dinner depends in large part on the hotel. At Hyatts, it’s not typical for what’s served at lunch to be a meal replacement, & typically doesn’t include hot items, but it may vary by the hotel. In the case of the Grand Hyatt Washington, it's snacks only at lunch time and not a viable meal replacement. This benefit is available "for each registered guest in the room, up to a maximum of two (2) adults and two (2) children."

Breakfast perk: When not staying at a location with a club lounge, at many Hyatt hotels that don't typically offer breakfast, guests "will receive daily complimentary full breakfast (which includes one entrée or standard breakfast buffet, juice, and coffee, as well as tax, gratuity and service charges) for each registered guest in the room, up to a maximum of two (2) adults and two (2) children."

Upgrade status perk: If space is available at check in at certain Hyatt brands (i.e. Regency & Grand), you would have the option to get upgraded up to a standard suite. It's not a bad idea to check a hotel in advance of a stay online to see if paid standard suites are available. If so, it's not a bad idea to call the hotel to see what percent of suites are booked. Keep in mind that according to the terms, "Not valid at Caption by Hyatt, Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, Destination by Hyatt Residences, or Vacation Ownership Property hotels and resorts."

If a hotel has any parking fees paid directly to the hotel ($62/night typically at Grand Hyatt Washington), destination fees ($20/night at Grand Hyatt Washington), or resort fees, those shouldn’t be needed due to Globalist status.

"Late Checkout", up to 4 PM, is a nice perk, but it's especially nice if you're also able to snag an early check in, & especially so on a 1 or 2 night stay, which is built into the terms when it says "Priority Room Availability".

For more term details, go here.

Park Hyatt Washington DC During Inauguration Example

The example at the top of this page isn't just any date. It's the night of the inauguration. Here's the $ price of the same stay:

That cost goes up even further with 4 adults:

Here's how that would look at the regular rate:

If you're a globalist, the effective value goes up further, with the following at minimum even if you didn't get a room upgrade:

Drivable Category 6-7 Options Where You Can Stay

With a category 1-7 free night certificate, you'd be able to stay in standard rooms (or up to a standard suite in some cases via a free status upgrade if space is available upon check-in) at any of Hyatt's >1300 category 1-7 properties around the world. That said, I'd generally recommend one of their category 6-7 properties that would be a <4 hr drive or flight(s). For instance, here are some drivable options outside of Hampton Roads:

Image courtesy Hyatt.com

That said, while Keswick Hall is a solid option any time of the year, the ones on the coast are highly seasonal in their pricing in this example. If wanting to dive deeper into when you could get good value, get off the Hyatt website and instead move over to Google Hotels for a city and look at the "When to Visit" section. In this case, that's in July & August:

If I then look at options over the weekend prior to July 4th (with holiday weekends tending to have high prices, especially highly celebrated ones), I get some viable redemption options:

Image courtesy Hyatt

If wanting to stay any time soon, you'd typically be better off staying at Keswick Hall or a category 5 property instead to get better value unless going during a time when the $ prices are significantly higher than what they are currently above.

Image courtesy Hyatt

Out of the possible times available in the near future, those times of higher value are typically going to mean more to do:

Image courtesy Google

Going on the Hyatt website I see an option available for 25k points at the $991/night date of April 8th ($1009/night on the Hyatt website):

Image courtesy Hyatt

I then do a Google search to see what's the fuss about that date, and I see some viable reasons why. I find this events page for the town. After seeing some Easter events, I discover that it's Easter weekend, with Easter-themed events in Charlottesville like the Easter Eggstravaganza on Carter Mountain Orchard. My wife and I have gone to Carter Mountain Orchard at least a few times before and it's a wonderful place. There are also a number of events going unrelated to Easter that day, like the Charlottesville City Market & Ellington's Evening of Music & Poetry Feat.

Top Suggested Hotel for a Drivable Visit

Here is my top recommendation far surpassing the value of anything else that comes close that isn't a >4 hr drive:

Keswick Hall in Charlottesville on Easter Weekend, a Small Luxury Hotel

Of course, dates will vary in $ price, but the certificate value remains the same, so with the certificates, pricier dates can be ideal to maximize value. That said, lower-cost $ dates typically will have a higher likelihood of an upgrade due to the SLH perks or our Globalist status (in the case of hotels where applicable, which don't include SLH properties).

That date, you'd be saving $1154 under current pricing:

Drivable Category 5 Options Where You Can Stay

1. Park Hyatt Washington DC is in a luxury Hyatt brand & is ranked the #11 hotel in DC by US News & World Report at this time. It offers a higher probability of an upgrade to a suite than the category 4 Grand Hyatt Washington due to a significantly higher proportion there of suites vs standard rooms (134 suites of 220 rooms) in comparison to the Grand Hyatt (26 suites of 897 rooms). The breakfast quality would likely be very good because it’s at the Michelin-distinguished Blue Duck Tavern or room service from the same restaurant. The globalist benefit there provides a $60/adult credit for breakfast & $30/child at Blue Duck Tavern or room service. If you wanted room service, there is a $5 delivery extra charge required to be paid out of pocket. One option there that might work if wanting a higher volume of meals while at the Park Hyatt would be to order extra from the restaurant at breakfast and keep it in the minifridge that comes with the room. All breakfast entrees on the menu are under $30, with some options under $20, & one of the room amenities is a Nespresso coffeemaker, making room service a good option if wanting to stretch to 2-3 meals from the 1 credit each if you both like coffee & coffee related drinks in the morning. The parking there that's free for globalists is $59/night. If you ended up getting a room upgrade, you’d be getting more value, but not by a large margin since junior suites are standard suites there & an upgrade's $ value is often under $100.

2. Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay Golf Resort, Spa and Marina is a hotel that my wife & her sister enjoyed while it was category 4 using a free night certificate. It's ranked the #9 best hotel in Maryland by US News & World Report at the time of publication. There are plenty of amenities and things to do there, especially for watersport lovers and golf lovers.

3. Hyatt House Virginia Beach Oceanfront & Hyatt Place Virginia Beach Oceanfront are options, but rates are highly seasonal, so when you go has a significant impact on the value you'd be getting since rates start below $150 including taxes/fees if paid in $.

Many High Value Options Where You Can Stay w/ Low Cost Direct Flights

There are plenty of direct flights out of SE VA, from Newport News, Norfolk, or Richmond. See my article on finding cheap flights if desired.

It's a good idea to check Google flights to look for options across a broad range of dates.

Image courtesy Google

Here's a map of some of those direct flights available at least as of the time of the map creation.

In many of those cases that are close, there are category 6-7 options for a stay.

Here's one example at the Andaz 5th Avenue of where you could save over $1100 (including taxes) on a 1-night hotel stay in New York on NYE vs the bed & breakfast rate (with included breakfast due to globalist guest of honor status):

Image courtesy Hyatt

You can check the highest cash rates of hotels by going to Google:

Image courtesy Google

Thompson Hotel Central Park in NYC wouldn't be bad either.

Another fine option is the Park Hyatt Chicago:

Image courtesy Google

Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach (near Tampa) is an option, but you'll more often be getting lower value there than the above properties unless you are able to get an upgrade at check-in, with some exceptions where you may be able to save over $700 for the night before any upgrade.

There are plenty of good options on Nashville, especially on peak dates:

Image courtesy Hyatt

The Hyatt Place Nashville Downtown & Thompson Nashville aren't available on that date, an example of phantom availability:

Image courtesy Hyatt

The Grand Hyatt Nashville also has a club lounge that would come free courtesy the Globalist perks:

Image courtesy Hyatt

Miami has some decent options as well, though the Hyatt Regency Miami & Hyatt Centric Las Olas below are both phantom availability & category 3-4 so not worth using a category 1-7 certificate on:

Image courtesy Hyatt

Keep in mind that the above costs at most brands aren't factoring in the free parking (if applicable), free breakfast, and the possibility of a free upgrade if space is available at check-in you'd be getting if using Globalist perks.

Time

For a 1 night stay, I'd generally recommend leaving early in the morning and getting back at night in an ideal world. I'd also generally recommend travel that would be less than 4 hours each way. If you leave at 8 AM, get to a location at 12 PM, and then return at 5 PM, you'd have a full 24 hr day plus an afternoon at a destination. In some cases, you may want to make stops or take detours along the way if driving.

Value

While it may be tempting to pick the first destination that comes to mind where a category 1-4 property is available, I suggest only choosing a destination where you'd be getting high value. If you only pick a category 1 hotel property just because it's the only hotel when you want and where you want it, you'll likely be leaving a lot of value on the table.

I also recommend choosing a hotel not just based on the standard price, but based on all the savings you'd receive based on the Globalist status benefits. I'm particularly a fan of properties with a club lounge that have a number of standard suites, though I'm not seeing great options for that in this case except in Nashville. That's better on the category 1-4 certificates due to the Grand Hyatt Washington.

Additional Costs

When considering a 1 night stay, be sure to keep in mind additional costs like:

Parking Fees (typically not an issue since parking is free at Hyatt hotels for Globalists (but not necessarily at SLH properties), but be sure to confirm prior to booking.

Rental Car Costs if flying or going by train and you don't plan to use another form of transit

Baggage fee costs for transit, if applicable

Meal costs (most, but not all hotels will have free breakfast; options w club lounges sometimes offer heavy hors d'voeures, which can replace a meal at times)

If you have a Bank of America credit or debit card, and especially if others in your party have one as well, consider timing your visit to go on a Museum's On Us weekend (the first full weekend of every month) in a city with an attraction that you'd like to visit.

Why To Not Consider Category 1-4 Properties

Since category 1-4 certificates are so much easier to come by, using a category 1-7 certificate on a category 4 property would typically be considered a waste, though it may still be tempting at a spot like the Grand Hyatt Washington where I'll be staying using points later this month using a confirmed suite upgrade for a >1k sq ft grand suite including free parking in the middle of DC & club lounge access for my breakfasts and dinners. I acquired the points for that stay using 2 Chase Freedoms that converted to Hyatt Rewards via my Chase Sapphire Reserve.

All Inclusive Options (none available w/ direct flights)

While I wouldn't typically recommend an indirect flight for a 1 night stay (unless for a positioning flight), Hyatt's all inclusive portfolio is limited primarily to hotels outside of the United States, thus there are no options available with direct flights from SE VA.

Here is a map of those options:

Hotel Maps

Here's a category 6-7 map

In case you want to narrow to locations that would allow an upgrade (if space is available at check in) up to a standard suite for those receiving globalist benefits if there is space availability at time of check in, here's a map.

In case you'd only like to consider brands with club lounges or free minibars (excluding alcoholic beverages, which are fee based) at some of the hotels, here's a map.

Related:

Best Uses of Hyatt Category 1-4 Certificates for Those Based Out of SE VA using Globalist Status